This week in politics: Trump's criminal counts swell to 91 with Georgia indictment

Donald Trump’s charges have now ballooned to 91 criminal counts across four jurisdictions, which now means the average number of felonies charged per president in U.S. history is about two.

A Georgia grand jury handed down a sprawling indictment against the former president and a network of his allies who are accused of operating a criminal enterprise to overturn the 2020 election.

It poses an especially serious threat for Trump because unlike the two federal indictments, a state criminal conviction isn't subject to a future presidential pardon should he retake the White House.

But what's becoming an increasingly troubling part of the Republican front-runner's saga is a pattern of how he criticizes the prosecutors and judges in these cases, especially Black officials, and the threats made by supporters against them and others, including the grand jurors.

Trump's legal knot is the headline story of the 2024 GOP presidential primary more than any other policy question and political issues at the upcoming Aug. 23 debate in Milwaukee whether he shows up or not.

But the upcoming discussion did draw out a telling wrinkle thanks to a super PAC aligned with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that briefly posted a debate memo online with some frank − critics say embarrassing − strategy suggestions.

Chief among them: "defend Donald Trump," if he doesn't attend and other pieces of advice that are usually well guarded such as how often to attack other GOP rivals and President Joe Biden.

The Republicans looking to overthrow Trump and win the nomination are't the only ones preparing for next Wednesday's debate either. Biden's reelection campaign is planning to blitz the airwaves by making "MAGA" Republicans a vocal point, in an attempt to counter what will be a night that the GOP contenders pile on the president's record.

Hawaii's historic wildfires means the country's 50th state faces a massive rebuilding challenge, but some residents say their toughest obstacle may be the state government itself. Biden is set to visit the island of Maui where the blazes killed more than 100 people and those who survived are worried about efforts to take advantage of the disaster by buying their land.

Trump faces RICO in fourth and final criminal case

Trump, from Manhattan to Atlanta, is facing a dizzying number of charges from falsifying business records to stealing the last presidential election.

But what makes the Georgia case so different is that prosecutors are utilizing the state's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, to go after him. That law is typically used to imprison organized crime, drug dealers and gang members, and its framework means Trump's allies are also facing prosecution in trying to overturn the state's 2020 election which Biden won.

Among the 18 co-defendants are former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was Trump’s personal attorney; Mark Meadows, who was White House chief of staff during the 2020 election; and a former publicist for hip-hop artist Ye, more commonly known as Kanye West.

The case mentions 161 different incidents that prosecutors say demonstrate Trump’s attempt to steal the Georgia vote, including that infamous telephone call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in January 2020 in which he pressured the election chief to “find” the 11,780 votes needed for him to win the state.

Judges, prosecutors and grand jurors face threats

Trump continues to use his political apparatus to attack the prosecutors and judges in these cases, whether from his social media platform or a 60-second campaign spot calling Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis the "newest lackey" for Biden and the Democrats.

These attacks and choice of words are often racially tinged, critics and other observers have noted.

"He consistently refers to any prosecutor that is investigating him or bringing charges against him who happens to be Black, he refers to that person as racist," Clark Cunningham, a law professor at Georgia State University, told USA TODAY.

It's all the more troubling in the context of more threats against Black officials involved in these Trump cases.

A Texas woman was arrested and charged after allegedly threatening to kill U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over the second of two federal cases against Trump in which he is accused of trying to steal the 2020 presidential election.

The woman called Chutkan, who identifies as Black and Asian, a racial slur saying she would, "kill anyone who went after former President Trump,” according to a federal affidavit.

Some Georgia grand jurors whose names and addresses are circulating online have reportedly received threats. A verified user on X, formerly called Twitter, posted pictures of three jurors and called a list of their names “a hit list,” according to the group Media Matters for America.

Another fringe site had a user saying the jurors "signed their death warrant" by indicting Trump.

A debate memo for DeSantis

When Ron DeSantis takes the Republican debate stage against his opponents in Milwaukee next Wednesday it will be a bit awkward for the Florida governor.

That's because we got a glimpse at what could be his notes when an unexpected window into his potential strategy was opened by a GOP consulting firm behind Never Back Down, a pro-DeSantis super PAC.

Among the "must-do" for DeSantis at the debate, according to the memo, are attacking Biden and the press at least three to five times; giving a positive visions at least three times; "take a sledgehammer" to Ohio entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who has seen an uptick in the polls; and defend Trump if he isn't there in response to an attack by former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

The problem is a super PAC isn't supposed to be giving a campaign those type of notes, which has confused and angered the Florida governor's donors and supporters, according to reports.

Meanwhile, the other GOP candidates are using the blunder to mock DeSantis.

"Vivek’s job on Aug. 23 is to introduce himself and his vision to the American people," Ramaswamy's campaign told USA TODAY in a statement.

"These boring, canned attack lines from a robotic candidate doesn’t change that. If DeSantis struggles to use a spoon, I can’t imagine he is particularly agile with a sledgehammer."

Biden campaign ready for GOP debate too

President Biden obviously won't be at the Republican debate in battleground Wisconsin, but the Democratic incumbent isn't going to let the GOP contenders attack his record without a response.

The president's reelection team and the Democratic National Committee are planning to blast "MAGA Republicans" in an ad blitz that they say will paint that wing as "extreme and out of touch" whether Trump joins the debate or not.

The Biden campaign is also taking a jab at Trump — who appears to be skipping the debate in favor of an online interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, according to reports.

Biden's people won't tell us much about the ad buy's cost or content, but that it would be aimed at Black and Hispanic voters.

"Now that the lights and stage are brighter, we want to make sure that we are also performing on that stage and highlighting the real divides between between the two parties and the two visions," DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison told USA TODAY.

Hawaii reeling from historic wildfires

America's 50th state is grappling with a devastating death toll, which could double or even triple, after a historic wildfire eviscerated the island of Maui.

Biden plans to visit Hawaii as soon as possible, but for residents there are multiplying concerns while carrying the grief.

For starters they are worried that if insurance payouts and government assistance don't come fast enough, survivors may lose hope and sell their property to people who will drastically change their beloved communities.

Even as bodies are still being recovered developers have reached out about acquiring their land.

There is also an open distrust in the Hawaii state government given officials didn't use sirens to warn people and continue to say that they were unprepared even after a fire weather watch was issued two days beforehand warning of tinder-like conditions.

Hawaiian officials have defended that decision, arguing that the sirens would have sent people into the mountains, where the flames were. Instead, people were sent texts and voicemails warnings – however, cell service and power were already lost for most. Many ended up self-evacuating without knowing where to go.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Week in politics: Trump's 4th indictment, DeSantis gets debate notes